EVALUATION

So, that’s the final extended project completed. And wow, what an experience, full of ups and downs. I have reached heights in this project I did not know I was able to, for example using software’s that I’m unfamiliar with. I have managed to achieve what I set out to. Although I did not find the time to do some of the things I would have liked to. At the start of this project, I had my expectations set high. I wasn’t going to settle until I achieved what I wanted to, but under more consideration I admit my idea was extremely ambitious, but I still think I achieved what I had expected to.

Research was hard for me, as I sometimes struggle with writing for a long period of time, but as I am extremely interested in the topic I chose, it made it interesting to learn about. Research was extremely effective for me personally, because I found out about a lot of statistics that shocked me. It was also effective because it showed me who would be interested in my product, so I could aim it towards them. Another reason it was effective was that it taught me about colour theory and font theory. I had no idea how much colour and font theory meant before this project. Because of this, I was able to base the colour and font of my magazine, text, and backgrounds to cater and drag in my target audience. I went for cooler colours to create a chill, relaxed vibe. Yet another reason research was helpful was having industry professionals and inspirations to take ideas for content from. Seeing their videos really motivates me to make my own type of up-beat exciting video about fashion. This is extremely helpful because I sometimes struggle with motivation, but this motivated me so much.

The project has been successful for me, in technical terms. I never had anything go completely wrong or anything, for example, USB stick corruption or loss of files. However, in other terms such as time management, I could’ve done better. There were times where I was rushing to get things done so I could move on, which means it wasn’t my best work. If I’d have just got my head down a bit more, I would’ve finished everything on time and there would be no problems with that, so I know for next time not to put myself under pressure for no reason when it can be easily prevented with hard work. Another reason it was a success was because of my use of Software’s. I have a deep knowledge of Adobe Photoshop which is what I used to edit my social media posts. However, I had to edit my magazine on Adobe InDesign, which I had hardly ever touched before. So, I spent the first week or so of production just trying to teach myself what everything meant on InDesign. I also got some help from peers; I eventually got my head round it and cracked on with making my Magazine. An improvement I would make to my project would be to make more videos for TikTok, our first TikTok did quite well, and I think if I had carried on with it and stayed consistent, we would have a decent sized following by now.

The main strengths of my project are my social media posts. Although there aren’t many of them, I think the quality of them is great. I had lots of fun being creative in Adobe Photoshop making them. I also developed more skills by creating these posts, for example how to make the most out of a bad situation, for context, I couldn’t find a good PNG of some shoes that I was posting about a release, so I got rid of the background and added some grunge effects and lowered the opacity to make it look like it was purposeful. I gained both soft and hard skills during my project, for example a soft skill I acquired was problem-solving. This is because I encountered multiple problems during my project, especially creating the magazine. For example, my front cover was the wrong size, which meant I had to remake it. But it’s how I overcame this quickly and efficiently that is important. Another soft skill I acquired was communication. As I was working with a peer, communication is everything. I didn’t want to put out something that looked bad, so I asked for his thoughts on everything I produced. Yet another soft skill I acquired was creativity. Being able to create whatever I wanted was so freeing and empowering. I felt as if I had no boundaries, and no idea was too ridiculous. I just had to try things I thought would look good. Some did, some didn’t. a hard skill I had acquired over the course of this project would be learning how to use Adobe InDesign. Coming into this project I had little to no experience on it so to come as far as I have with my knowledge of InDesign, I’m very proud of myself. Another hard skill I developed was proofreading. Writing a magazine, you’re bound to make a mistake or two. This meant proofreading was extremely important to make sure no mistakes are left in after the final publishing. Yet another hard skill I had developed over this project is content development. I didn’t want my content to be painfully generic, so I made some developments to make my posts unique and different to the rest of the sneaker community.

The soft skills I developed will be useful in the future because I will know how to manage my time better for deadlines and get work done quicker and more efficiently, instead of leaving it until the last minute to finish everything off. Another example would be the creativity I developed. I learnt that the sky is your limit with social media posts, and that there really are no boundaries as to how creative you can be just with a post about a shoe release. As for hard skills, learning Adobe InDesign will benefit me in the future because I can make magazines and leaflets etc… another hard skill I developed while doing this project is proofreading, this will help me in the future because I will remember to go back and check everything is perfect before publishing it.

There were a few limitations to my FEP. One problem being that my front page was the wrong size for my magazine, therefore I had to fix it. The way I fixed it was by recreating it on Photoshop to the correct size. Another problem I had was publishing the magazine to a flick-through website. The one that was recommended to me tried charging me to put it on, and I do not have the funding to do so as it was very expensive, so I had to find an alternative, which I did in the end. But this was still an inconvenience nether the less. Another problem I had was losing motivation. There were parts of this project where I just wanted to give up because I didn’t really know what I was doing on InDesign, but in the end, everything was worth it, I’ve created a magazine I’m proud of with the help from some peers and teachers.

The final extended project links to my progression plan because it has completely opened my eyes to fashion journalism, and I have to say, I love it. As a job, I would love to be able to travel to fashion shows for a company and document them. This is now a big part of my progression plan as I now involve fashion journalism into it as I dive headfirst into employment after university.

The final extended project links with the industry because fashion will never go out of trend. It has been constantly on the rise since its birth. My project was creating a social media posts and creating a magazine, which have both been done before by thousands of people in hopes to become a mainstream media company. But what makes us stand out from the rest? Its simple, Age. I might only be young, but I sure know a whole lot about fashion. I love fashion and always have so it made sense to put this much time and effort into something I love. Despite this, I know how people my age thinks when it comes to fashion, I know this because of countless hours on social media seeing videos and posts of people my age sharing their outfits. Why is this relevant? It is relevant because I can see the comments that people leave to get a better understanding of what people think to different outfits, for example, right now, there is something called ‘Bloke Core’ that is trending and although it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, a lot of people really like it right now. Another reason my FEP is relevant and links with the industry is that magazines like GQ, Vogue, and Dazed are doing what I want to ultimately become. They are so powerful that they can determine trends and I want to be a part of that.

A few steps I took to ensure I wasn’t being disrupted too much during this project was bringing my headphones to college. I know this doesn’t seem like it would change a lot, but it helped me so much. It drowned out noise from my classmates that were chatting and messing around etc… and chill music helped me from being drafted into a conversation. Another technique I used was just distancing myself from people I would usually just sit around and talk to, this helped because I was not in talking range with them so I couldn’t talk to them, I just got on with my work. Another thing that helped was time management. I set myself goals to achieve each week to ensure I would be where I wanted when going into college the following week. Yet another thing was file management. Everything had its very own file so I could easily find and access all my work and I knew where everything was at all times.

There are a few improvements I would make if I was to restart my FEP, including making more content. I was so fixated on my magazine being perfected that I distanced myself away form making much content. I do believe that if id have used the time it took to make my magazine wisely, I would have a lot more to show for my social media accounts. Another thing I would do differently would be to put more time into my research. I found myself a lot of the time to be going back to do some more of my research tabs when I should’ve been focusing on making content or creating my magazine. I would like to develop my creation into a mainstream media brand by keeping going over the summer and see how it goes. If it grows a little bit then fine, if it grows a lot then fantastic! It just shows my desire and willingness to not give up something I enjoy straight after a project just because it was for a project.

I am happy with the overall outcome of my final extended project because I achieved what I had in mind with the magazine and social media posts, just a bit disappointed that I didn’t get to create more videos. I think everything went well, there was no conflict between me and the peer I was working with to create the brand as we went our separate ways to create different products for the same brand. This helped because we focused on our individual products.

I will take a lot of skills I learnt during this project into my progression plan such as being able to Adobe InDesign, before the project I didn’t know how to use it and couldn’t even find my way around it. Now, I can say I can comfortably use it to create a magazine that I think is high quality. With more practice, I could potentially become good at creating magazines and leaflets or anything on InDesign for that matter. Another skill I shall take into my progression plan is creativity. I learnt that there aren’t any boundaries for creating content, just your imagination. Which led to me creating a video with over 3600 views combined.